Emerging Cosmetic Procedures Help Patients Love Their Reflection

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU: The top trend in plastic surgery for 2015 is in fat grafting—or fat transfer—in patients’ faces, breasts and buttocks.

The best days of plastic surgery have yet to come, according to Scot Glasberg, M.D., president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Glasberg cites economic, technological, medical and societal gains in recent years as the impetus for his optimism.

Bouncing back

“The decline we saw leading up to and including 2008 is over,” says Glasberg, who is a board-certified cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgeon with offices in New York City. “The economy keeps coming back and we keep seeing more and more growth.”

Glasberg also says that a new streak of growing acceptance through media outlets and pop culture denizens has put plastic surgery in the forefront for many potential patients, including many who might not have considered plastic surgery as recently as five years ago.

“Plastic surgery has a new foothold in cities and suburbs across the country.”

“It’s being talked about in places other than New York and Los Angeles,” Glasberg says. “Plastic surgery has a new foothold in cities and suburbs across the country.”

Still, according to Glasberg, the upswing in plastic surgery’s popularity doesn’t mean potential patients should speed through the process without putting in the research.

“It’s important to find honest, board-certified doctors who will provide you with the right information,” says Glasberg. “And it’s becoming increasingly important to find surgeons who are not only certified, but who also work in accredited facilities. Ask to talk to their patients. Ask to see photos. Ask to tour their facilities.”

Emerging trends

As far as emerging trends in plastic surgery, Glasberg says he sees the most growth in fat grafting—or fat transfer—in patients’ faces, breasts and buttocks. "It’s more accepted than ever and people are excited about the new procedures,” Glasberg says about the emerging practice. “Surgeons have been doing it for 20 to 30 years, but the growth has been substantial in the past few years.”

Glasberg says the other emerging trend has less to do with plastic surgery than it does with potential patients. “We see people from all walks of life—old, young, mothers, fathers—who are looking to plastic surgery to help them live a better life.”